Many businesses have altered their operations to address the inability of employees to work from their offices. Since co-workers can’t talk to each other in person and work out potential difficulties they encounter, business owners have been forced to try different means of communication.
Accordingly, companies have turned to platforms such as Zoom or Slack to keep track of projects and ensure productive teamwork. These on-demand services include chatting and setting up video conferences to discuss how to proceed in ongoing endeavors.
However, not every company is used to or wants to function without communicating via handsets. Previously, companies placed handsets on each of their employees’ office desks, but with many employees now working remotely, these devices are now located in workers’ homes. But doing business while talking on the phone remains a viable option.
It employs cloud PBX (Private Branch Exchange or a private company phone network) and offers an easy way to keep co-workers interconnected almost the same way as if they were working from offices.
In this article, we’ll go through the most popular VoIP plans in the U.S. At least one of the following 12 options is bound to facilitate your communication needs and help ensure a favorable business atmosphere.
Voip Much
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Line2
Line2 is especially convenient since, as the name suggests, it adds a second line to your device. This is extremely useful if you don’t feel like sharing your main phone number or don’t want to incur unnecessary expenses, such as purchasing another device.
Other than simply adding a second line to your number, many other handy features come with Line2:
- Relocation of PBX to the cloud
- Smartphones fitted with PBX
- Ability to include multiple phone numbers
- Call transferring
- Auto-attendant
- Call distribution
RingCentral
The VoIP provider that first comes to mind of most people is typically RingCentral. The company has a highly developed system that works for small, medium, and large enterprises. At the same time, the company offers effortless integration of external vendors to their network.
The company offers RingCentral Office as its main program to enables business communication. Here are some of the most notable characteristics of RingCentral’s VoIP:
- Company directory
- Auto-attendant
- Call handling
- Call forwarding
- Webinars and meetings
- Fax
- Voice mail
Their mobile app is also compatible with Android and iOS devices, allowing you to set them up as a more traditional version of office telephones.
Mitel
Since shifting to VoIP as their main business offering, Mitel has provided solutions for businesses of all sizes. But the area where Mitel excels is providing large enterprises with business communication options. Most notably, Mitel is the go-to network for Major League Baseball, both the American and National Leagues.
One of the most noteworthy initiatives Mitel offers is the MiCloud Connect. It has enabled many businesses to maintain their communication during the initial stages of the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Intermedia
The part of Intermedia’s system that focuses on VoIP is Intermedia Unite. It incorporates a number of essential features:
- Numerous conferencing programs
- SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) trunking
- Virtual PBX
The company recommends several providers to set up your VoIP, such as Yealink, Cisco, and Polycom. However, Intermedia Unite also offers the Bring Your Own Phone plan that lets you connect devices from many brands to Intermedia’s VoIP network. You can also gain access to services rendered by Salesforce, Slack, G Suite, and Office 365 owing to Intermedia’s close relationship with the companies.
One of the most well-known functions of Intermedia Unite is the secretary feature. Here are some of the benefits of their VoIP environment:
- Operators and AAs can check the availability of other team members.
- Remote voicemail transfers
- Remote warm transfers
- Remote blind transfers
Vonage
In the previous decade, Vonage was in the spotlight but for all the wrong reasons. Namely, the company was taken to court by several enterprises, including Nortel, AT&T, Nextel, Sprint, and Verizon, for breaching their patent rights. On top of that, Vonage was also lambasted for falsely advertised free services, refusal to refund their customers, and other dubious business activities.
Nevertheless, the company has invested a lot of effort into improving its reputation over the years. Since 2019, Vonage has provided B2B cloud features combined with an application programming interface (API) whose focal point is conversations. The network incorporates various types of software:
- Cloud infrastructure
- Operations in a contact center
- Programmable communications
- Unified communications
As a result, Vonage is a reliable choice if you want to set up smooth, unified business communication.
Ooma
Prior to this year, Ooma had a lot of inadequacies in providing a proper VoIP service. Most customer complaints stemmed from the fact that Ooma’s system was sometimes too complex to run. In particular, there were just too many dongles and cords under people’s desks that made handling the very hardware of Ooma too cumbersome. Essentially, the system was cranky, unreliable, and customers often had to make small fixes to keep the entire network running.
But as of this year, the story has changed. Ooma has enhanced both the software and the hardware of their VoIP platform. It features dedicated handsets, multiple lines, along with the traditional landline feel. Their management interface is straightforward, and you can customize the platform in a multitude of ways. Apart from that, Ooma has expanded on several traditional functions and included lots of state-of-the-art features:
- Home security systems
- Water sensors
- Window sensors
- Motion sensors
8×8
Throughout their history, 8×8 has been part of a lot of acquisitions through which it has started implementing several pieces of technology:
- Communications platform as a service (CPaaS)
- Open-source chatting software
- Contact center
- VoIP network
- Video conferencing systems
The company’s target customers are small-sized businesses. It offers affordable PBX plans, along with cheap international plans for users with business associates all over the world. Additionally, 8×8 also gives you the option to integrate chat, video, and voice features into one system to enhance your cooperation and analytics. Finally, the company has API offerings you can access in-house or using cloud integrations.
Grasshopper
Another company that appeals to small businesses is Grasshopper. It offers reasonably priced plans, and you can select one of the following three options:
- One number and three extensions
- Three numbers and six extensions
- Five numbers and unlimited extension
If you want to ensure that your business communication yields the best results possible, you should go for the third plan. It costs $80 per month. The price is ideal for growing companies that need virtual PBX settings and extension for all their employees.
However, you might be better off without Grasshopper if you’re looking to start a major call center. This is mainly because the company doesn’t have its own VoIP equipment. Instead, you need to procure devices on your own.
But for smaller enterprises, there are basic VoIP features at Grasshoper that can ensure seamless business communication:
- Call transfers
- Call forwarding
- Call extensions
- Voice mail
GoToConnect
Since its inception, GoToConnect has established connections with several related companies, including GoToWebinar and GoToMeeting. As the companies’ names suggest, their business lines are closely associated with business communication, making them a valuable partner of GoToConnect.
The most advantageous aspect of GoToConnect is their administrative management options. They enable you to set up call forwarding and an automated assistant via the drag-and-drop method.
To further enhance their VoIP features, GoToConnect closely collaborates with many cloud services:
- Microsoft
- Slack
- Google
- Zoho
- Salesforce
Because of these connections, GoToConnect has all it takes for you to ensure an outstanding business PBX experience.
Phone.com
Phone.com includes an old-school approach to business communication. More specifically, the company relies on a live attendant to answer phone calls from their customers, unlike most companies nowadays that generally opt for social media, web forms, texting, and email to handle inquiries. Once the attendant answers the phone, they can follow a pre-set script, make appointments, send the call to voice mail, or transfer them to a cell phone or an extension.
However, purchasing this option isn’t cheap, despite the fact that most other plans by Phone.com are moderately priced. But if your company focuses on business activities that function much better with a live attendant, make sure to check out Phone.com and their plans.
A major plus of having a real-life secretary is the ability to cater to relatively older customers who are used to communicating with a human when expressing their needs. This ensures a personalized business approach that your customers will appreciate. In addition, if your attendant is properly trained, they will possess the necessary skill set to persuade your customers to purchase products they otherwise may not consider buying.
Despite featuring a real-life attendant, the network, as with other systems, has its downsides. The biggest one may be the very attendant themselves or, more specifically, their personality. Should they display rudeness or if the customers perceive them as being unhelpful or holding back information, this will reflect badly on the company. For this reason, having automated business communication tools may be a better option in some instances.
1-VoIP
At its core, 1-VoIP supports many features integral to business phone calls. There are no special, eye-catching functions, but the following option should get the job done:
- Call forwarding
- Virtual fax
- Auto-attendant
- Queues
- Adding extensions
- Renting handsets
- Extension transfer
- Music on hold
When you take a look at the fundamentals 1-VoIP brings to the table, you might turn to other providers for a more upgraded version. However, there’s one special aspect about the company, and it’s the cooperation with Nomorobo.
If this is your first time hearing about Nomorobo, here’s an explanation: it’s an app through which all your calls are routed and then returned to you. This can add delays to receiving and handling callers.
But when integrated with your VoIP-1 virtual PBX, you’re basically using a real operator instead of a virtual attendant. This means that there will be no incoming calls bothering you since Nomorobo’s main purpose is to block spam calls.
Broadband Providers
The previously listed 11 companies specialize in VoIP services. However, you have one more option – telecommunications or broadband providers. These include major enterprises such as AT&T and Verizon. They also offer VoIP services and, just like many companies in this market, they may try to upsell their services along with their standard packages.
The reason why broadband providers may be a wise choice is the integration of VoIP services into the rest of their plans. Accordingly, you can get internet, cell phone, and VoIP plans in one place. Also, you can get all the equipment from the same provider, have an installer set up all the devices, and possibly avoid cumbersome pieces of hardware.
Another area where broadband providers don’t lag behind traditional VoIP companies is the range of services. Namely, most telecommunication enterprises come with settings for personal, residential, and business VoIP. Therefore, if you decide to change your VoIP features, you can easily do so by contacting your broadband company and upgrading to a higher plan.
How to Choose Your VoIP Provider
When deciding on your VoIP provider, the most important thing is to sort your priorities. You can start by asking yourself a series of questions pertinent to your line of business:
- What apps do you need to include in your business communication model?
- Is voice mail one of your requirements?
- Is extension forwarding crucial to your business?
- Are you better off with an automated or real-life attendant?
Once you’ve listed all the necessary components of your VoIP, you should start going through the content of plans from each of the abovementioned providers. See which plan has the most features you need and, thus, find the package that fits your business better than any other.
Finally, pricing is also a significant factor when choosing the best offer. But it shouldn’t top your list of priorities. The main thing on your mind should be purchasing the highest-quality plan for your needs. This is especially important if telephone communication is your principal way of conducting business. Even if you pay a higher price initially, it should pay off in the long run since higher quality usually means better features.
